Thursday, October 3, 2013

Last
full day in Thailand and we thought we’d do a quick day trip to Ayutthaya.Train up to Victory Monument and then a
minibus (60baht each) to Ayutthaya – they go when full but we only waited about
10 minutes.

Ayutthaya
used to be the capital of Siam but is now practically an outer suburb of
Bangkok.Minibus took about 50 minutes
and the ‘mini-bus station’ is a plastic gazebo with a sign.Just down the street was a nice looking restaurant/guesthouse
called “Tony Place” so we got a quick coffee and checked the place out a
bit.We didn’t have much idea what to
expect, but even just driving into town we could see that this place was going
to need way more than just half a day.

Tuk
tuks are plentiful, but yet another design variation – these ones have a little
cabin the driver sits in and a steering wheel – and a rather Mr Bean-esque nose
cone.Negotiated with a driver for
200baht/hour (had checked trip advisor for rates) and he took us on a quick
spin to see a few temples.

We didn't get this groovy one but the driver was very proud of his shiny orange machine.

Most
of the temples are built of little bricks (about the size of a clay paver or
smaller) some obviously have been ‘rendered’ (which is now coming off) but the
layout at each site is quite clear.

Ayutthaya
had some flooding last week and the evidence was still ther for all to see –
water laying round where it obviously should not have been, sticks & other
debris banked up in path/wall corners etc and the ground quite soggy under foot.

Wat
Mahathat and Wat Rajaburana are side by side and quite similar.Plenty of trees to grab some respite from the
baking sun (it would be ferocious in March & April)

Wat
Phrasisanpethi was lovely – three huge chedis in the middle with throne and
ordination halls at either end.

Last
stop was Wat Yai Chaimongkhon still has a working monestary as well as
ruins.It’s grounds are beautiful and it
is one of the iconic Ayutthaya photo spots – 200 buddas sit along 4 sides of
the huge chedi, all sashed in gold.

Then
we found the chooks .. well roosters to be accurate .... hundreds of them in all
sizes from 15cm to 3m – lining a roadway near another building.No idea why but it was the funnies thing to
see.

I
know three hours in a town with as much to see as Ayutthaya is almost as
insulting as saying ‘go to Siem Reap for 3 hours’ but this tiny taste has put
this place firmly on our ‘must return and explore more’ list.

Back
to Tony’s place for a late lunch and an afternoon bus back to Bkk for some last
minute shopping.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Two
fairly quiet days after the big long one to Hellfire Pass.Monday we thought we’d do some shopping so we
headed for the mega-mall MBK.I remember
this from when we took the girls to Bkk & Pataya years ago.

Across
the road and all connected via the BTS (skyway train system) and a series of
linked pedestrian walkways are Siam Discovery, Siam Centre and the uber posh
Siam Paragon (home to Hermes, Chanel, Armani etc)Siam Discovery was having some kind of ‘Design’
exhibition and there was an installation of Mr P .. very strange concept but
the locals seem to love it judging by the number of them taking photos

Decided
to try Asiatique for dinner .. for Sydney-siders it’s kind of a mix between
Darling Harbour and Paddy’s Market but really nice actually.An old warehouse district has been
transformed into Bangkok’s newest night time destination.Restaurants line the riverfront and back
through 2 old re-vamped warehouses, and the others are given over to night
markets.Despite it’s obvious target
market, prices were pretty good (and in some cases better than MBK)

Tuesday
.. I woke feeling a big off.. nothing specific, just blergh!Tony decided he wanted a day round the pool
so after a late breakfast I decided to visit the Queen Sirikit Textiles Museum in the grounds of the Grand
Palace.I got the skytrain from our
local station Ratchathewi down to Saphan Taksin (where we went last night) and
took the local river boat upstream to Tha Chang.It cost me the princely sum of 15baht (about
50c) and I watched in amazement as far toio many stupid tourists paid out
150baht for the tourist boat which covered exactly the same stops. Bangkok has some amazing riverside architecture.

Off
quickly at Tha Chang and following the crowd of Thais headed towards the palace
through the inevitable gauntlet of food & souvenir stalls.Bought a bottle of water and a mango (20baht)
and watched the sky darken wondering if was going to get wet again.

The
Museum itself is fantastic!NO photos
allowed inside so you will have to take my word for it.A stunningly beautiful collection of gowns
from the Queen’s private collection (c1955-1990’s) and some fantastic stuff on
the resurrection of the handcrafted Thai silk industry under the Queens
patronage.Beautifully set out, great
information – a really classy museum.

Back
onto the river boat – it’s a really busy river and the variety of boats is
amazing. Past the very beautiful Wat Arum

Today
must also have been ‘excursion day’ – all day I kept passing groups of
schoolkids on excursions – this group was most impressive – staff all in their
smart blue/white checked shirts and kids in their polo shirts.

I
grabbed a very late lunch in the Siam Centre and walked back to the hotel.If you want to know how slow the traffic is –
I got to the little soi where our hotel is before this black bus.